Sam finds accounts of unrelated dead bodies showing up all over the Midwest with severe burns around their eyes, hands, and feet, puncture wounds through the backs of their hands, and eyes and internal organs liquefied. Sam and Dean go to Lincoln Springs, Missouri, where the last victim, Ann Morton, was found. Ann's husband tells them that his wife was not herself before she died. She was digging holes all over town, and he saw her eyes flash black.

Dean and Sam realize that someone is killing people possessed by demons, and set out to question Wendy Rice, a local historian who had arranged to meet with Ann Morton before she died. While they are at her home, three of Crowley's mooks come to the door and attack them. During the fight, one demon escapes with a map Wendy had recreated of the town before a 100-year flood cycle destroyed all records. Before Dean can stab one of the demons with Ruby's knife, it smokes out of its vessel and enters Wendy. Suddenly, Castiel appears, smiting the demon attacking Sam and capturing the possessed Wendy.

Castiel wants to tell Sam and Dean his true mission but, under Naomi's control, instead tells them he has been looking for the other half of the demon tablet and trying to stop the demons from finding a parchment that could help them to translate Crowley's half of the demon tablet without a prophet. Castiel tortures the possessed Wendy, who reveals that they have a hostage who has been telling them where Lucifer's crypts are. Before she can tell Sam and Dean that there is no parchment and instead they are looking for the angel tablet in Lucifer's crypts, Castiel kills her.

Castiel disappears, and Sam and Dean race to the hotel where the demon said the hostage is being kept. They find Castiel has already smote two more of Crowley's mooks. Castiel tells them the hostage is in the bathroom, and when they open the door they find a blonde, bloodied, and bound Meg. Even though Castiel realizes Meg will likely reveal the truth to the Winchesters, Naomi allows him to work with her, as she knows the location of Lucifer's crypts. She tells them that she has been being tortured by Crowley for the last year, but has not given up the location of the angel tablet. She agrees to show them where the crypt is. Castiel cleans some of her wounds, and Meg reveals she has feelings for Castiel.

Meg leads them to an abandoned warehouse. Castiel and Dean enter to look for the angel tablet while Sam and Meg wait outside to watch their backs. Castiel sees there is only one item warded against angels in the crypt, and Dean opens the warded box and finds the angel tablet. Castiel insists Dean gives him the tablet, but Dean is unwilling to give it to Castiel unless he explains how he got out of Purgatory. Naomi commands Castiel to kill Dean, and Castiel savagely beats him. Crowley's mooks attack and Sam and Meg manage to kill them. Crowley appears, and Meg sends Sam to Dean and Cas. Dean manages to get through to Cas, who picks up the angel tablet. Naomi's control over Castiel is broken, but he takes the angel tablet and leaves, saying that he needs to protect it from Naomi and from Dean. Sam and Dean escape from Crowley after Meg sacrifices herself to protect them and Cas. Naomi and Crowley later meet in the crypt, where they are revealed to have history together. Castiel is shown on a bus with the tablet.

Artifact Collection Agency: The Men of Letters have a lot of artifacts in boxes, which Dean is attempting to organize. He finds The Spear Of Destiny, an odd carving, a Fabergé egg, and a copy of Voluptuous Asian Lovelies, first edition.

Dean being beaten up by an angel and someone he considers family who is being controlled by someone else and then being healed by Castiel is very similar to what happened in "Swan Song" (S05, E22). His injuries even look similar—blood all over his face, swollen eye.

Meg: So, which Cas are you now? Original make and model or crazy town?

Castiel: I'm just me.

A Date with Rosie Palms: Dean finds a vintage porn mag called Voluptuous Asian Lovelies (a joke reference to the Busty Asian Beauties magazines that Dean keeps finding) in the storage room of the Men of Letters and shows it to Sam. Sam wants to get on the road to investigate the new case, but asks Dean if he needs some more time with "Miss October". Dean then jokes that he needs ten minutes before they leave.

Dating Catwoman: Crowley mentions that he had a romantic relationship with Naomi in Mesopotamianote Since Crowley was born in 1600s Scotland, this would presumably be Ottoman-era Mesopotamia, not Ancient Mesopotamia, even though both are on opposite sides of a millennia-long war and despise each other.

Crowley: Easy, love. If you remember our time in Mesopotamia the way I do, you know I'm a lover, not a fighter.

Deal with the Devil: Crowley tries to offer Naomi one. She leaves before he can even finish his sentence.

Meg: Awww. Thanks for noticing, Dean. But this wasn't my idea. It was Crowley's. And it's just another reason I want to stab him in the face.

Fake Action Prologue: Castiel attacks Dean while Dean begs for him not to hurt him. Castiel lifts up his blade and inflicts a fatal blow. Dean lies dead, and the lights come up revealing this was only a test Naomi is putting Castiel through.

Fridge Logic: Why didn't Dean leave the tablet in the box warded against angels, or at least put it back in the box, as soon as Castiel started asking for the tablet in a suspicious manner?

Presumably, Dean figured that, while the box has wards to prevent angels getting inside it, this doesn't prevent them from simply picking it up and taking it back to Heaven unopened, which would suit their purposes just fine.

Castiel draws a devil's trap under the kitchen table to hold the possessed Wendy.

Meg and Sam spray-paint wards outside the warehouse to protect against Crowley and his mooks.

Good Angel, Bad Angel: Castiel is split between Earth and his loyalty to Dean and Sam (good angel) and Heaven and the control established by Naomi (bad angel).

Good Cop/Bad Cop: After Castiel binds her in a devil's trap and tortures her by stabbing her through the hands with his sword, the possessed Wendy says, "I thought angels were supposed to be the good cops." Dean does not accept the role of good cop and tells her, "Think he's the only bad cop in this room?"

Kind of ironic actually, given the Light Is Not Good behavior of angels on the show. This must have been a fairly clueless demon.

Gratuitous Japanese: When Dean sees a picture of a young woman sitting on a bed in Voluptuous Asian Lovelies, he says "konnichiwa".

Happily Ever After: Sam, and possibly Meg, have not given up on this possibility, although Meg can't resist teasing him.

Sam: You know, I spent last year with...someone, and, um...now I know that's actually possible.

The husband of the last victim said she was "not his Annie" for the week before she died. She was a teacher with no enemies, but then she stopped eating, stopped sleeping, and would only mutter to herself.

The real estate agent's wife and the historian's husband also said their spouses became obsessed and weird before they died.

Sam says Castiel is "off", and Dean says Castiel has not been right since he got back from Purgatory.

Porn Stash: Dean opens a folder in the archives of the Men of Letters to find a first edition of Voluptuous Asian Lovelies. Perhaps Dean's interest in Busty Asian Beauties is part of the Men of Letters legacy.

Real Life Writes the Plot: Meg died because her actress, Rachel Miner, had to leave the show due to worsening health (which had also restricted Meg's fight scenes and movement in earlierepisodes) and the cast and crew didn't want to just pass the character along to another person.

Dean makes a very close quote to a line from The Return of the King, which Sam points out: "you...realize you kind of just quoted Lord of the Rings, right?". Dean insists that "Rudy-hobbit [Samwise Gamgee] always gets a pass". Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee, was the titular character in Rudy.

After Castiel stabs the demon-possessed Wendy through the palms, she tells them the demons were getting information on the crypts from a hostage who is being kept at Murray Hotel by the interstate.

However, for Meg it is a Subverted Trope, as she has been lying to her torturers, hoping to buy enough time for an escape.

Treasure Map: Wendy Rice has recreated a map of Lincoln Springs from before the flood, which shows that the Jakubiak Orchard was where Downey meets Bond Street. Meg uses the model in Ann's basement to find where Lucifer's crypt is.

Twisted Echo Cut: Used very effectively between the scenes with Castiel talking to the Winchesters or Meg and then cutting to him talking with Naomi in Heaven. We also see an example where Castiel pulls out his sword, shocking Dean who takes a step back, and the there is a cut to Meg, with Sam saying, "wait, hold on."

For a loose definition of "hero". Sam points out that, while Meg didn't tell her torturers what they wanted to know, her false information still lead to innocent deaths, and she did it just to give herself "a break" from the torture.

Meg: Hi, I'm Meg, I'm a demon.

Meg later calls Sam out on the fact that even though they worked together to defeat the Leviathans and Crowley, they didn't look for her even once over the last year. Sam just shrugs.

Meg: Wait, so I took how many bullets for you guys, and you didn't even look for me? Like, once? [scoffs] My hero.

Worth Living For: Meg reminds Sam he has always wanted to live a normal life with someone he loves, and reveals she also has a "unicorn" worth living for, which, since this is Supernatural, means she does not have long to live.

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